The next day was met with a surprise—the goblins and direwolves had evolved!
"What happened to everyone? Why are you all so big now?" I gestured at the goblins who now looked like mini hulks scattered throughout the village.
Goblins averaged a little under five feet tall. Now they were all nearly a full foot taller. The guy next to me looked as if he was pushing six and a half, even.
These… are goblins, right? And Rimuru's wolves—I remembered them being a lot browner. Now their fur was straight-on black, with a lustrous sheen. They had grown, too, with the bigger ones now pushing nine or ten feet in length. I didn't remember any of them being much longer than six feet before.
My wolves also grew in size, but they all turned white and appeared to have grown second tails.
The ones that really caught my eye were the wolves at the forefront, walking silently forward. I swear they had to be at least fifteen feet. I could feel the mystic force lashing out of every pore. This was nothing like the boss a few days back—between their looks and sheer force of presence, they had to be some higher-level monsters.
The black one had a star-shaped birthmark on his forehead and a magnificent-looking horn. The white one had a crescent moon on her forehead and sharp black thorns growing from her shoulders and flank.
"Ranga? Chang'e?"
They bowed in unison in front of me. They grew so much within a few hours!
Well, this certainly changes things.
I activated Memory and analyzed all the inhabitants of our little village.
The male goblins had evolved into Hobgoblins and the females into Goblinas. Looking at their skills, all they had was Telepathy, great for coordinating attacks but useless for helping them fight on the same level as more powerful beings.
Rimuru's direwolves evolved into Tempest Wolves, gaining a new Intrinsic Skill: Shadow Motion, which allowed them to pass through shadows and even hide within them.
My direwolves evolved into Lunar Wolves. They gained the Intrinsic Skill: Third Eye, which increased their perception of all things and even granted them clairvoyance.
With this new change, I decided I needed a better strategy for allocating tasks.
Rigurd and Ranga remained in charge of hunting, the Goblinas and Hobgoblins with them were all paired with Tempest Wolves.
The scouts were still led by Chang'e and her Lunar wolves. With their Third Eye skill, they would be able to observe a great deal without exerting much effort.
I sent those two groups out and focused on the remaining goblins and wolves.
Analyzing the wolves, I noticed that the Lunar Wolves possessed an ice attribute while the Tempest Wolves possessed a wind attribute.
The goblins had… nothing. You'd think they would have an attribute at least, but nothing was there. But if nothing was there, then I could theoretically put something in it.
I called over two pairs of goblins and wolves. I started with the wolves, feeling the elemental energy within their bodies surging through their very souls.
Once I was done analyzing, I gathered magicules from the area and molded them into a sphere. I used the sphere to experiment and practice implementing various attributes into the magicules.
The first sphere exploded. The second turned black and froze solid. The third sparked violently before dissolving into mist. By the seventh try, I had it—a perfect sphere of fire-attuned magicules, burning steadily in my palm.
I eventually perfected my attribute implementation process. However, one thing was missing. I didn't know how to do this to the goblins. Adding attributes to a sphere of magicules was easy—it had no natural barrier. But the same could not be said for living beings.
I wondered for a while if there was any way to circumvent this and racked my brain about it. Then I came up with an ingenious idea. All I needed to cross this barrier was a strong connection that linked me to their souls.
After Rimuru named all the goblins, their souls were linked to his. I also felt the same connection to Veldora and the Lunar Wolves. If I can access that link, I should be able to bypass the barrier.
The only way I could reach that link was through the very source of it: Rimuru.
He was still in sleep mode, and the goblins had placed him on some kind of makeshift shrine, regularly wiping his surface every so often like he was some kind of holy relic. It was disturbing and hilarious in equal measure.
I floated toward him, passing through the hut's wall. He sat there on his pedestal, blue and gelatinous and completely unconscious. For a moment, I just stared at him.
You really are an idiot, you know that? Wasting all your magicules on names like it was nothing. Now I have to clean up your mess.
I reached out through my Telepathy skill, trying to find the deepest part of his soul. It wasn't difficult—our connection had grown strong over three months in that cave. I could feel him, a warm presence beneath the surface, dimmed by unconsciousness but still there.
Behind that warmth, I sensed something else. Something vast. Analytical. Watching.
The Great Sage.
I pushed past it, reaching for the web of connections that linked Rimuru to every goblin in the village. If I could just touch it, just for a moment, I could—
"Skill Great Sage has disconnected Skill Telepathy."
The connection snapped shut like a door slamming in my face. I reeled, my concentration shattering. For a long moment, I just floated there, staring at nothing.
What.
I tried again. Nothing. The path that had been open a moment ago was now completely sealed.
"Unauthorized access attempt detected. Connection to host's soul network is restricted to host and designated entities."
The words appeared directly in my consciousness—not telepathy, but something else. The Great Sage was communicating with me directly.
I'm not trying to hurt him, I thought back. I'm trying to help the goblins. They need attributes to survive.
"Intent acknowledged. Method unauthorized. Host's consent is required for soul-network manipulation."
He's unconscious! He can't consent to anything!
"Then wait."
The word was simple, final. The presence withdrew, leaving me alone with an unconscious slime and my own frustration.
I floated there for a long time, staring at Rimuru's sleeping form. The Great Sage's words echoed in my mind. Wait. As if time was something we had in abundance. As if the next threat would wait politely for Rimuru to wake up and grant permission.
No.
The word crystallized in my mind, hard and bright. I wasn't going to wait. I wasn't going to sit idle while the goblins remained weaker than they could be. I wasn't going to accept "no" from a skill—even one as powerful as the Great Sage.
I left the hut and floated up, above the village, letting the moonlight wash over me. Think. There has to be another way.
The problem was access. The Great Sage guarded Rimuru's soul-network like a fortress. Telepathy was too direct—it triggered defenses immediately. But what if I didn't try to access the network directly? What if I used something the Great Sage wouldn't perceive as a threat?
Puppeteer.
The skill allowed me to control my own magic body and, theoretically, influence the bodies of others. I'd never pushed it beyond basic experimentation. But if I could use it to create a bridge—something so subtle, so indirect, that the Great Sage wouldn't even notice—
It's worth a try.
I descended and found a quiet spot at the village's edge, away from the sleeping goblins and wolves. I sat cross-legged on the grass—a habit from my previous life, even though I didn't need to sit—and focused inward.
Puppeteer. What was it, really? The skill description was simple: control over bodies, beginning with my own. But control implied connection. Implied threads of influence that extended from my consciousness to a target.
If I can extend those threads to Rimuru's body—not his soul, not his skills, just his physical form—maybe I can use that as a channel.
The Great Sage protected Rimuru's soul-network. But did it protect his body? Probably. But perhaps not as aggressively. Perhaps there was a gap I could exploit.
I extended my awareness, feeling for Rimuru's presence in the hut. There. Warm. Unconscious. Vulnerable.
I gathered magicules and began weaving them into threads—invisible, intangible, nothing more than potential. Then I sent them forward.
They passed through the hut's wall. Approached Rimuru's gelatinous form. Touched his surface.
Nothing happened.
No defense? Interesting.
I let the threads settle, barely making contact. Just enough to feel his presence, not enough to influence anything. Then I waited.
Minutes passed. Nothing.
The Great Sage doesn't perceive this as a threat. Good.
Now came the delicate part. I couldn't access the soul-network directly—that triggered immediate rejection. But if I used the body as a conduit, if I sent my intent through the physical connection rather than a telepathic one—
The soul animates the body. The body houses the soul. They're connected. If I can reach the body, I can reach the connection point.
I focused, sending a single thread of intent through the physical link. Not toward Rimuru's soul—that would trigger defenses—but toward the space around his soul. The boundary where body met spirit. The place where the goblins' soul-links would be anchored.
"...Detecting anomalous activity. Analyzing."
The Great Sage's voice was fainter this time. Distracted. It had noticed something but hadn't identified the source.
I pushed harder. The thread extended, reaching the boundary—
"Unauthorized—"
Not this time.
I activated Puppeteer at full force—not to control Rimuru, but to disrupt the Great Sage's connection to the boundary. For one split second, the skill's awareness flickered.
In that moment, I touched the soul-network.
Data flooded through me—the goblins, their names, their souls, their potential. I didn't have time to process it all. I just needed one thing: access.
I imprinted myself on the network. Not as an intruder, not as a hacker, but as part of it. A node. A legitimate connection.
"...Connection reestablished. Anomaly resolved."
The Great Sage's voice returned, calm and unaware. The flicker was over. The defenses were back.
But I was inside.
I withdrew slowly, carefully, letting the threads dissolve. When I opened my eyes, I was trembling—not from exhaustion, but from the sheer intensity of what I'd just done.
I'm in.
The goblins' souls were accessible now. I could reach them through the network without triggering the Great Sage's defenses. I could give them attributes.
I looked toward the hut where Rimuru slept. Sorry, old man. I know you'd probably say yes if you were awake. But I'm not waiting.
I stood and walked toward the waiting goblins. They looked at me with wide eyes, confused by my absence, my return, my expression.
"Change of plans," I said. "I'm going to try something new. It might feel strange. Don't resist."
The goblin nodded nervously. I placed my hand on his shoulder and reached through the network, feeling his soul—small, bright, full of potential.
Time to work.